Rebirth
by soranavy
Summary: People you love will use you and lie to you. It will break your heart. But that's how life goes.
1. Chapter 1

The only person you can truly trust is yourself.

Sakura cursed as yet another tree came flying her way, dodging just in time to see a second one approaching quickly. She modulated just enough chakra to punch and split the trunk harmlessly in half.

"Sakura, this isn't target practice! Dodge!" Tsunade stared her down with her hands on her hips.

"Sorry Shishou! I won't do it again!" Sakura put her hands up in defeat.

"I suppose we've been at this for the past few hours, why don't we call it a day? I have some sake waiting for me at my desk..."

"Of course Shishou..." Sakura laughed nervously and started her retreat before Tsunade changed her mind.

"Sakura!", Tsunade barked.

Startled, she turned towards Tsunade "What happened?"

"I heard a certain someone is coming back to the village today, you might want to stop by the front gates", Tsunade said with a wink.

That could only mean one thing. Sasuke was back! Sakura's mood lightened drastically and she giddily skipped towards the village gates. She remembered the day like it was yesterday...

Sasuke had attempted to skive off with Orochimaru and his band of snakes a while after the chuunin exams, but was caught before he could escape with them. He was placed under a much higher scrutiny after that happened and began to train exclusively under Kakashi, often going on missions outside the village. Meanwhile, the rest of Team 7 split up - Naruto going to train with Jiraiya and Sakura finding mentorship under Tsunade.

Sakura had still pined over Sasuke the past three years, from academy days to when Team 7 split up. At first she had liked him because that's who everyone liked in academy. She liked him for his handsomeness and aloofness, always out of reach and often harshly frank.

Sakura had always thought her crush would just be a crush. There was a point where she just accepted her infatuation with Sasuke as a part of her - it's not like there were any other boys she was interested in. Sakura tried to develop her friendship more with Sasuke, eating with him as friends rather than trying to ask him on dates. She never thought the day would come where he would actually accept her feelings. It was like a dream come true.

"Hey, Sakura. I realized that I've wasted these past few years and that I think we would go well together." Sasuke brought up casually once after a brief dinner stop.

Sakura was shocked, on her part. Well, it's not like she was going to say no. It's been her dream all these years, after all. "Of course! I mean, yeah I think so too."

Sasuke did a weird half smile-smirk at her and reached out for her hand. Sakura, blushing intensely, obliged.

And that was the start of the end.

* * *

Note: It's been a long time since I've written something! It's a bit of a rocky start, but hopefully not too bad. You can probably tell, but don't worry; Sakura isn't ending up with Sasuke. Thanks for reading :)


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura hummed a little tune as she strolled down the darkening streets of Konoha, hand in hand with Sasuke. Life was good; her longtime crush had just confessed to her and _she felt like she was on top of the world._

"So, why did you have this obsessive crush on me a few years ago?"

Sakura giggled nervously, "Well, I thought you were pretty cool. You had that mysterious aura about you."

"...ah."

"What about you, what led you to today?"

Sasuke shrugged. "You've been spending an awful lot of time around guys like Sai..."

 _What?_ , she thinks. "Well I mean yeah, Tsunade had to pair me up with someone to do missions with. It's not like our team is going to do any anytime soon. We did a lot of D-ranks back when we started since Konoha was short on hands after the attack... I disliked Sai at first, but he's not bad once you get past his surface weirdness."

He scoffed at her. "That boy is creepy. I don't know why you talk to him."

"I try not to make a habit of burning bridges, Sasuke. I have to work with him, you know?"

"Well, do it a little less alright? You've got me now."

Sakura smiled at him, a little unsure. "Of course, Sasuke. We can do whatever you want."

"Walk me home?"

Sakura stared at him a little. "Uhh... sure."

She accompanied him to his house, a little confused. Sakura rambled on about her excitement about her day to fill in the usual silence. "Today was so exciting! I finally mustered up the courage to go to Tsunade-sama's office - I was shaking with nerves. I couldn't believe what I was about to do. I mean, I was asked THE Hokage if she would mentor me. Clanless, genin me. I thought she would kick me out! She almost did in fa-"

Sasuke cut her off with a monotone, "We're here. Bye, Sakura." He left go of her hand and stepped into the Uchiha complex.

Sakura, mouth still open as she was mid-sentence, stared after Sasuke incredulously. "I uhhh... bye?"

She slowly turned her back to his house and started walking back the way that they came from. Her house was in the opposite direction, after all.

Sakura contemplated Sasuke's behavior a little, but it really just seemed like something normal for him. Maybe he'll change a little as time goes on.

Upon reaching her house, she noticed that all the lights were still on. "Tadaima!", she shouted as she entered.

"Okaeri, dear. What were you doing out so late?", her mom came to meet her from the living room.

"You won't believe it, mom! Sasuke asked me out today!"

"Oh, you're certainly in a chipper mood today... Wait, what?"

"I said, Sasuke asked me out today! He said we should be together!"

Her mom coughed a bit. "Well, that's certainly unexpected. I never thought he treated you with anything other than disdain and disrespect, that damn boy. He's always insulting you even if you say he eats with you now, I still don't understand how you can like him."

"Mom!"

"Alright, alright. Dear, we have some leftovers in the fridge if you want any."

"I told you mom, I just ate dinner! I'll be upstairs if you need me.", Sakura ran up the stairs and jumped in her bed. She grabbed a pillow and rolled around a few times in giddiness. Who cared if Sasuke was acting different than normal? He was paying attention to her now.


	3. Chapter 3

(Back to the present day)

Sakura shook out of her memories as she approached the Konoha gates.

"Sasuke!" She shouts as she sees him leisurely walk through the gates.

Sasuke is talking to his chunin partner for the mission, Hakanai Rina, and appears to not hear Sakura. Rina brushes her sleek black hair behind her ear as she laughs in reaction to something he said. The setting sun illuminates their backs and Sakura is momentarily taken by the view of the two next to each other.

Rina is 2 years their senior and has been on countless more missions than she has, albiet Sakura's mission count has slowed to a halt since she started her apprenticeship at the hospital. Her long ebony hair is the envy of many in the village, and is a marker of her confidence in her own skills. Sakura wishes that she could say the same about herself.

Sakura continues forward and closer to the two until Rina spots her and waves a hand. Sasuke briefly looks up and smiles at Sakura.

Smiling back, "How was the mission? No injures I hope?"

Sasuke scoffed back, "Who do you think I am?"  
"No one's getting injured on my watch", Rina piped in confidently.

Sakura smiled wistfully - Rina was right, after all. She was well known as one of the strongest and most reliable among the chunin. The beloved heiress of the Hakanai clan.

"Sasuke, do you want to grab dinner somewhere? You must be hungry, after that long mission." Sakura looked up at him.

"Hn. We need to give our mission report to Tsunade, you know that already." Sasuke grunted back  
Rina brightly chipped in, "We were going to get dinner after that but you're welcome to join us, Sakura!"

A bit startled, Sakura stared at the two of them. _**I'm**_ _welcome to join_ _ **them**_ _?_ "No worries, we can catch up another time. Have a good dinner." She waved briefly and headed off in a different direction.

Sakura wandered a bit aimlessly through the streets of Konoha, passing by as many civilian stalls packed up for the day. Her feet took her to Training Grounds 3. Heaving out a sigh, Sakura plops against a tree. _I know it probably means nothing to Sasuke, but it means something to me. I wish I was stronger. I wish Naruto was still here so we could actually go on missions as Team 7 again. I have friends that love me, a wonderful family, the best Shishou that I could ask for, and a boyfriend. But why do I still feel so alone?_

Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya shortly after Sasuke was stopped from leaving Konoha. He said that he was on a journey to find himself _whatever that means_. He absolutely had not wanted to leave when Jiraiya first proposed the long trip, but he must have said something pretty convincing - Naruto turned around by the end of the week. And then they were gone. Nowadays, Sakura only heard from him every few months. Even then, they were brief sentences at the end of Jiraiya's encoded letters.


End file.
